Elementary, My Dear Watson

After an extended period of putting it off, I have finally started watching Elementary.
Yes, Elementary, starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.
I was pretty reluctant to start it for a while, I mean it all seemed a little bit of a cheap move, making another modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes to ride upon the wave of success made by the BBC's Sherlock. This time, though, the difference was New York, over London, and Joan Watson, over John Watson.
I decided that I wasn't going to get involved in such a seemingly petty move but, against all odds, I have succumbed to the weight of popular culture. I have heard many good things about it. And so, yesterday, I gave in and watched the first six episodes.

And I absolutely, unequivocally, love it.

Now, truth be told, you can't really compare Sherlock and Elementary. They're two very different shows. Sherlock attempts to take the classic stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and place them within a modern setting, and I think that it works fairly well. Elementary is more of a traditional, modern "sleuth" type show, in which Sherlock and Watson seek to solve crimes and mysteries of a less, shall we say, romanticised nature. Traditional stories aren't re-told. New stories are created. And it's due to that element of Elementary which, for me, makes it a better show.

Elementary takes the traditional with their traits and differences and moves it to a modern era with modern cases. Sherlock is a recovering heroin addict who works as a consultant detective with the NYPD. Joan Watson is a former surgeon whom is his sobriety partner, and she seeks to work with him, helping him in his cases, if she can, and ensuring that he doesn't relapse. It's an incredibly interesting show, and the development of the characters is done in an really smart way. The relationship between Sherlock and Joan is tense and, at times, strained. Sherlock gives off a very distinct impression that he doesn't really want Joan there and that puts some initial stress on the relationship between them. However, as the show progresses, respect is built, a friendship of sorts is formed, Sherlock begins to see that including Joan in his work and, to a lesser extent, his life is a beneficial thing to do.

And I have to talk about the colloquiality of Sherlock. I heard that in Elementary, Sherlock is English, being played by English actor Jonny Lee Miller. Now, when I hear that a character in an American show is English, I always automatically cringe a little because, in my experience, it's never a good representation. They get an English actor (or an American actor doing an English accent) and write into their dialogue all the American colloquialisms that an Englishman really wouldn't say. Trash, soccer, bathroom (over loo or something similar), and just things like that. Sherlock, however, is English. He sounds it, accent wise, but he also talks like an Englishman which is a breath of fresh air for a show produced in America.

Well done, is basically all I have to say. You've done very well and I shall be paying more attention to you than I will be to Sherlock. It doesn't deserve all the attention it gets anyway, particularly with its pathetic crop of episodes and obscene shooting schedule. Moffat is just being a tempting little nitwit. He needs to be taken down a peg.
Anyway! I'm off to watch more of this delightful show. Cheerio!